Canada’s Prime Minister, Mark Carney, has declared that the global rules-based international order has fractured, warning that the world has entered a harsher era dominated by unconstrained great power rivalry.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2026 in Davos, Carney said the belief that international relations are governed by shared rules and mutual restraint is no longer credible.
“We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition,” he said, describing a global system where power increasingly overrides principles.
Carney warned that economic integration, once seen as mutually beneficial, is now being weaponized through tariffs, supply chains, and financial infrastructure.
“You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration, when integration becomes the source of your subordination,” he said.
From Rules-Based Order to Power Politics
Carney said the idea that weaker states can remain safe by compliance is a dangerous illusion.
“There is a strong tendency to go along to get along, to accommodate, to hope that compliance will buy safety. Well, it won’t,” he stated.
He referenced the ancient observation attributed to Thucydides that “the strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must,” warning that it is increasingly treated as unavoidable.
According to Carney, multilateral institutions such as the World Trade Organization and the United Nations are under strain, forcing countries to reassess their dependence on global systems.
He said nations unable to feed, fuel, or defend themselves face shrinking options as geopolitical tensions rise.
The ‘Power of the Powerless’ And Living the Truth
Carney invoked Czech dissident Václav Havel’s essay The Power of the Powerless to illustrate how systems endure through participation in falsehoods.
He recounted Havel’s story of a shopkeeper who displays a political slogan he does not believe, simply to avoid trouble.
“The system’s power comes not from its truth, but from everyone’s willingness to perform as if it were true,” Carney said.
He urged countries and corporations to stop pretending the old order still functions.
“Friends, it is time for companies and countries to take their signs down,” he declared.
Canada’s Shift to Value-Based Realism
Carney said Canada has abandoned the assumption that geography and alliances alone guarantee prosperity and security.
He described Canada’s new approach as “value-based realism,” combining commitment to sovereignty, territorial integrity, and human rights with pragmatic engagement.
“We actively take on the world as it is, not wait around for a world we wish to be,” he said.
Carney explained that Canada is recalibrating its global relationships to reflect both values and strategic interests.
Building Strength at Home and Abroad
Carney outlined domestic reforms aimed at reducing vulnerability to external pressure.
“We are no longer just relying on the strength of our values, but also the value of our strength,” he said.
He cited tax reductions, removal of interprovincial trade barriers, accelerated investment in energy, artificial intelligence, critical minerals, and defense spending.
Internationally, Carney said Canada is diversifying partnerships through new trade and security agreements across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
He confirmed strategic partnerships with the European Union, China, and Qatar, alongside negotiations with India, ASEAN, and Mercosur countries.
Middle Powers Acting Together
Carney argued that middle powers must cooperate rather than compete for favour with dominant states.
“If we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu,” he warned.
He said bilateral negotiations with hegemons often result in dependency disguised as sovereignty.
“This is not sovereignty. It’s the performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination,” he said.
Carney called for issue-based coalitions, including cooperation on Ukraine, Arctic security, trade integration, critical minerals, and artificial intelligence governance.
Ending Illusions, Building A New Order
Carney urged middle powers to stop invoking a rules-based order that no longer functions as claimed.
“Stop invoking it as though it still functions as advertised. Call it what it is,” he said.
He stressed that consistency, diversification, and domestic economic strength are essential to credible foreign policy.
“Countries earn the right to principled stands by reducing their vulnerability to retaliation,” he added.
Carney concluded by urging countries to abandon nostalgia and confront reality.
“We are taking the sign out of the window. Nostalgia is not a strategy,” he said.
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